MATTHEW 16:13-18

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"

They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"

Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it."

When a prophet speaks, it is often difficult for people to place him into a category. Is he preaching or teaching? What is he doing? He seems to be preaching, but what kind of preacher says such things? He seems to be teaching, but what kind of teacher instructs in this fashion? At times he is too direct for comfort, and even very harsh, but it seems overly simplistic to relegate this to a character flaw or a lack of compassion. It is not the typical directness of a Christian zealot or the harshness of a non-Christian. It is not the cynicism of the traditionalist, who upholds a human creed more than a divine revelation, or the bitter sarcasm of the idolater, who would sacrifice his own brother on the alter of his preferred theologian. There seems to be more to this person.

The offense that arises from hearing or reading his words, if one is to be honest about it, comes about because he is righteous and accurate in all that he says. He is so right that it leaves no room for dialogue or discussion, crushing man's pride and exposing his shame. The prophet is so righteous and accurate that the hearer's attempt to suppress the erupting guilt turns into anger, and anger turns into hatred and murder. If the call to repentance is rejected and the heart hardens against the message, then religious tradition is donned as a cloak to disguise the evil within, and Christ's righteousness is replaced by human endorsement. Putting off the armor of God and putting on the armor of the devil, one who has heard and refused the prophetic word sets out to destroy God's messenger, for he must be silenced to preserve their peace and sanity.

There is something about the prophet that sets him apart from other speakers. At times it might be difficult to specify the differences, but it seems that he has a different spirit, a greater power, a special boldness, a deeper insight, and a divine mission in what he speaks and writes. He is, to say this one way, as one who speaks with authority. And this is the impression that the people have of the Lord Jesus. They are perplexed about him – What kind of preaching is this? What kind of man is he?

He does not speak like the scribes, who depend on the sheer number of footnotes in their discourses to assert their conclusions. In every tradition, there are Christians who, boasting of a scholar's mentality, judge what they read and hear by this standard. This tells us more about them than those that they criticize. May revelation and reason be damned. May God himself be beat down and silenced. They respect only human approval and agreement. They would condemn the Lord Jesus himself as uneducated and amateurish, although they are forced to respect him for the sake of appearance. But the people know better – this person's authority goes beyond footnotes. He is certainly no ordinary rabbi.

Does anyone speak with authority today, as one who has received a word from another world, or are we back to making footnotes? Jesus promised to his disciples the power of the Holy Spirit, by which they would become his witnesses. But because of a cessation of faith, the Holy Spirit himself has been excommunicated as a heretic. "Oh, no," they say, "we do not deny it. In fact, everyone already has it!" Well, if all believers already have it, where is it? Since when is the power of the Holy Spirit not associated with miraculous demonstrations? Since when is it reduced to a mere boldness of speech? Wait, do we even have that? Since when is the work of the Spirit reduced to the development of virtues? And do we have that in our churches? Really? Where? What do we attribute to the Spirit of God that cannot be easily imitated by any non-Christian? In Scripture, the power of the Spirit impresses and intimidates the unbelievers. How often does that happen today? No, most Christians do not have this power, but it makes them feel better, and it relieves them of their responsibility, if their doctrine says that they already possess it.

According to the prophet Joel, "God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams….I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy" (Acts 2:17-18). The theology that encourages a cessation of faith in spiritual manifestations cannot make sense of such a declaration. For example, John MacArthur has to push its fulfillment to the Tribulation period in his false dispensational eschatology. Yet is it true that the Canon kills the visions, and the Tribulation kills the Canon? If the Tribulation does not kill the Canon but resurrects the visions, then the Canon has never killed the visions in the first place, so that the former does not necessarily exclude the latter. Anyway, Joel also says in the same passage, "And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (v. 21). For some reason, no one questions that this always applies. The truth is that they do not have the Spirit's power. They are lying about it. They do not enter themselves, and also forbid others to enter.

There are different maneuvers, but the tactic is the same – things that they do not wish to deal with can always be relegated to a time other than their own. It does not really matter when they had happened or when they will happen again, as long as they do not happen now. They are like Martha, who whines with all the piety she could muster, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day" (John 11:24). But Jesus replies, "I am the resurrection and the life," and asks, "Do you believe this?" (v. 25-26). Many Christians answer emphatically, "No."

It is futile to cloud the matter with an avalanche of footnotes as to why it cannot be true, with artificial schemes of dispensations as to why it cannot be now, or with a shameless hermeneutic that labels all biblical examples "exceptions," because the Lord Jesus says, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you" (Acts 1:8). They must submit to Scripture's own definition of this power, as to its purposes and effects. If this power, as explained and illustrated by Scripture, does not manifest in their experience (when Scripture assumes that it ought to), then we must conclude that they do not possess it, and that it is still to be sought and attained. Any other conclusion is of human tradition, concerned with protecting its own pride about its self-proclaimed orthodoxy and its authority over the lives of men, rather than with truth, humility, and obedience.

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